Axminster loom



June 5, 1928.

V. GERO AXMINSTER LOOM File Jan. 1l

, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 w w E V w June 5, 192s. 1,672,609

V. GERO AXMINSTER LOOM Filed Jan- 11, 1927 SIShee'ts-Sheet 2 June 5, 1928. 1,672,609

V. GERO I AXMINSTER LOOM Filed Jan. 11, 1927 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented June 5, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE.

VICTOR GERO, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO PENNSYLVANIA AXMINSTER CARPET CORP., OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

AXMINSTER Loolvr.

Application filed January 11, 1927. Serial No. 160,419.

The present invention relates to weaving, and more particularly to an improvement in Axminster looms operating in the manner of the Crompton and Knowles looms.

In the weaving of Axminster carpets and rugs, it has long been the goal of manufacturers of this class of fabrics to produce a weave having such close woven characteristics as to produce a substantially flat back with the face pattern showing thereon. While this goal has not heretofore been attained, it has been .approached by manufacturers working with Royal Axminster and nipper type looms, butnev'erl by any one employing looms working upon'the principle of a three shot loom such as the Crompton and Knowles looms. In so far as this last type of looms is concerned, the field has been barren of progress toward a flat-backed AXminster weave, and it has been heretofore considered impossible of accomplishment upon such a loom.

Some of the objects of the present invention are to produce upon a loom, operating as does a Crompton & Knowles loom with three shots, an Axminster fabric having a substantially fiat back; to produce upon such a loom an Axminster fabric upon which the pattern appears upon the back; to provide an improvement in looms constructed and operating as does a Crompton and Knowles loom with three shots; to provide an improved Axminster weave; and to provide other improvements as will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 represents a fragmentary side elevation of the shuttle end of a Crompton and Knowles loom equipped with one form of the present inventlon; Fig. 2 represents a fragmentary front elevation of the same; Fig. 3 represents the cam side of one of the binder warp cams and showing in dotted lines the relative position of the companion binder warp cam; Fig. 4. represents the cam side of the ller warp cam; Fig. 5 represents diagrammatically the respective heddle frame cycles; Fig. 6 represents a side ofthe comb control cam; Fig. 7 represents a detail in side elevation of the needle end of the loom with parts broken away for clear illustration; Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating the weaving of the binder and liller warp, the weft and the tufts as the fabric would appear without the beating steps; and Fig. 9 represents a perspective of the fabric as woven by the loom of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, those parts only of a Crompton and Knowles or three shot type of Axminster loom, are shown which will make possible a clear understanding of the present invention, and generally considered consist of the loom frame 10, heddle frames 1l, 11aL and 11", spools 12, tuft yarn frames 13, the comb-14, knife bar 15, reed l16, looper finger 17, and needle 19. The heddle frames 11, 11al and 11b are respectively suspended from rocker arms 18, 18 and 18", which are pivoted to a bracket in 2O fixed to the main frame 10. These roo er arms are respectively actuated by rods 21 under the control of rollers 22 respectively actuated by cams 23, 24 and 25, which in accordance with the present invention are quite different from the cams heretofore employed in this type of Axminster loom for operating the heddle rocker arms and will hereinafter be described in detail. The spools 12 and tuft yarn frames 13 are operated and automaticall handled in the manner usual in looms of tliis type. The comb 14 is carried by an angle piece 26 supported by arms 27 pivoted to crank arms 28 which are fixed to a rock shaft 30, the latter receiving its rocking movement from an arm 31 joined by a connecting rod 32 to a cam roller supporting link 33. The action of the rock shaft 30 is to advance the comb 14 at the proper time in the cycle of operations, and as this particular movement is unchanged from that of looms in present day use, it is believed unnecessary to specifically show and describe the cam bywhich the link 33 is controlled. This movement of the comb 14 referred to as old concerns only the advance of the comb since its rise and fall movement has been materially changed in order to aocomplish, with certain other new adjuncts of the .mechanism, the new result in Sofar as this particular type of loom is' concerned. Brackets 3ft serve as guide supports for the comb piece 26 during its movement toward and away from the yarn tufts. The knife bar 15 is carried by pivoted arms 35 and is operated in the usual way in timed relation to the associated parts. The reed 16 is also arranged to be rocked to beat up the shots and is operated by the usual mechanism in such looms. The finger 17 is carried by a rock arm 36 pivoted to the frame 10 or other fixed part andfis arranged to be thrown up to engage the shots by a spring 37 which is stretched and maintained Linder tension from 'a fixed point 38.l The arm 36 is released to the action of the spring 37 periodically through a connecting rod 40 which joins a pivoted arm 41 having a cam roller 42 riding upon a cam 43. This cam 43has dwells 44whereby the arm 36 and its connected parts are freed to the action of the spring 37.

Referring now to Fig. 9, a fabric woven by t-he present invention is shown having the desired flat back 45 with the face design 46 showing through upon such back. Ax* minster weaving in some degree approaching the product of the present invention has been carried out upon looms operating differently from looms of the Crompton and lKnowles types, but the resulting product is not as truly fiat-backed as that produced by the present loom invention, nor is it as closely woven and bound., The fabric formed by the present invention consists of two binder warps 50 and 51, a filling or stuffer warp 52, andt-hree shots of weft 53, 54 and 55 to each row4 of tufts 56. A shot is considered as the full tra-vel of the needle in and out of the warp harness. and in the weaving of this fabric the shot 53 is the one about which a tuft is combed and lies between the binders 50 and 51 but above the stufl'er warp 52. rlhe shot 54 lies below the tuft but between the binders 50 and 51 and below the 'staffer` warp 52. The shot 55 lies between two adjacent tufts between the binders 50 and 51 and above the stuffer warp 52. These shots are bound into the fabric by alternately raising and lowering the heddle frames l1a and 11b so that the binder warp 50 winds under the shot 54 and over the shots 53 and 55 of the next row of tufts, while the binder warp 51 winds over heddle frames 11a and 11b two'side face cams.'

23 and 24 are provided, each having the same configuration of cam groove 60 and both mounted on the driven shaft 61 but angularly disposed with respect to each other so that the heddle frame l1 is up when the heddle frame 11b is down. The

cam groove is formed with a relatively4 p long high point dwell A followed by a low point dwell 13, then a short intermediate dwell C substantially midway between the high and low points,l which is followed by a second intermediate point dwell. D of the same length as the dwellA, and this in turn runs into a short highA point dwell E followed by an intermediate dwell F which merges into the: dwell A at the cycle end. The full line in the diagram Fig. 5 represents the movement of the heddle frame 11aL under the actuation of the cam 23, while the dotted line on the. same figure represents the movement of the heddie frame 11b under actuation by the cam 24. and thus graphically give the relation between the binder warps 50 and 51 for a complete operating cycle.

For controlling t-he rise and fall of the filling or stuffer warp 52. a cam 25 is provided, having av cam groove 63 forming two diametrically opposite high point dwells G and I and two low point dwells H and J diametrically opposite each other but at 90 degrees with respect to the dwells G and 1. These low point dwells H and J correspond radially with thel intermediate point dwell-s C and F of the cams 57 and 58` and in assembled condition the cam 62 is fixed tothe shaft 61 so that the two low point dwells H and J coincide with the angular position of the intermediate dwells C and F of the other two cams. The movement of the heddle frame for the stufi'er warp 52 is graphically illustrated by the double line of Fig. 5.

For raising and lowering thc comb 14 in proper timed relation, the angle piece 26 is fixed to rods 64 which are fast at their lower ends to a cross rod 65 which is raised by and operated by-a. bell crank 66 Journalled upon a rod 67 and operated by a connecting rod 68 from a. lilik 70. The cam roller 71 is carried by theI link 70 and vbears against the face of ay cam 72 fixed to the shaft 61, and the bearing relation of the roller to the cam is maintained by a spring 73 which functions also to withdraw the cam in accordance with the changed relation between the cam 72 and its roller 71. In connection with this cam 72, it should be noted that its contour is such as to cause the comb 14 to be quickly withdrawn at. the

end of the second shot of the weft, so that it will be out of the way by the time the reed 16 beats this second shot into the fabric.

ln order to produce n uniform` smooth selvage edge at the needle. side of the fabric1 provision is made for preventing the finger 17 coming into play upon its second shot by mounting a. stop 74 upon the knife bar projecting beyond the edge of the knife 75 and of sufiicientlength to project into the path of the finger arm 36 when the knife is in cutting position. From this it will be seen that upon the second shot of the weft the stop 74 will prevent the rise of theginger 17 and its function for that particular shot will be taken by the comb 14. This construction allows each shot of weft to be drawn evenly into the fabric during the operation of the reed, `and eliminates the.

-the aforesaid cams are fiXed'to a. hub 76,

which is loosely journalled on the shaft 61 Vbut driven therefrom by reduction gearing 77, whereby the driven shaft 61 makes two revolutions while the hub and cams make but one.

In the weaving of the fabric of the present invention the first shot of the weft takes place when the cam 23 is inthe position with the dwell A holding the handle frame of binders 51 raised and the finger 17 automatically rises to allow the shot to loop. The tuft yarn frame 13 lowers to position the row of tuftsand the .comb 14 combs the tuft about the shot while acting as a holder to allow the second shot to loop. Thislatter action is brought about by the advance of the knife 7 5 to which is attached -the stop 74 and this latter is held in the path of the arm 36 to prevent the finger 17 from rising. This is an important feature in the weaving because the absence of the finger 17 between the yarn and the comb prevents a small edge loop being formed which gives a rough and uneven selvage. Both the first and second shots 53 and 55 pass between one set ofbinder warp and the filler warp 52 when the former is raised, while they third shot '54 passes between the filler warp 52 and the other set of .binder warp when the latter is down. It will be seen from Fig. 8 that the two sets yof binder warp are alternately raised and lowered while the binder warp maintains its generally centrally disposed position. In connection with the action of the comb, attention is directed to the cam 72, which is so shortened as to allow the comb to automatically drop quickly away from the harness immediately after the second shot is completed in order to be out of the path of the reed 16 during its beating movement. The present construction operates to produce a relatively close weave and one in which the second and third shots are beaten to a position substantially one above the other and with the second shot fiush with the tuft body. In this way the usual space between adjacent rows lof tufts is eliminated and instead of well defined depressions throughout the back of the fabric, there is a substantially solid fabric, or solid to the extent `that all of its parts lie in the saine plane to give a uniform smooth surface upon which the design appears by reason of the exposed tufts.

In lthe formation of the fiat back fabric by the present invention, the decreased speed of the warp cams relative to the `main shaft bears a precise relation to the operation of the reed, the looping finger, and the comb control. Thus, as a means for ensuring a fiat back while also maintaining a uniform edge appearance by the three shot operation, it is necessar to eliminate one operation of the looping ffiiger while still allowing looping to take place. In other words, if the looping finger were to function on each shot, as it normally does vin two and three shot weaving, there would have to be an intervalv for the operation of the comb after one of the shots and this interruption of the cycle causes the uneven back finish v which the present invention avoids. In accordance with the invention, the looping finger is rendered inoperative o n the second shot of the weft and the comb is brought up and performs two functions, one its ordinary one of combing the tufts and the other of looping the weft.

While only a single form is shown in which this invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to any specific construction, but might be applied to various forms without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus describedmy invention, I claim:

1. In an Axminster loom of the three shot type, two sets of binder warp and one setfof filler warp, means for successively throwing three successive shots of wefts across said war sets for each row of tufts, means for raising and lowering said sets of warp in a a finger automatipredetermined manner,

shots, a comb,

cally operable to loop said means operable during one comb to loop such shot, and means automatically operable on said comb loop shot for rendering said looping finger ineffective, wherebyy a. uniform-edgev fabric is woven.

2. In an Axminster loom of the three shot shot to hold said` cams, means for rotating said cams at a speed different from the speed of rotation of said main shaft, alooping finger, means for moving said finger to looping position, a comb, means for causing said comb to act as a looping fin er on one of the three shots of said loom W ile simultaneously carrying out a combing operation, a device for holding said looping finger inoperative on said comb stroke, and a reed arranged to beat each of said three shots.

4. In an Axminster loom of the three shot type, a main shaft, a plurality of heddle cams, means for rotating 'said cams, a looping finger, means for moving said finger to looping position, a comb, means for causing said comb to act as a looping finger on one of the three shots of said loom While simultaneously carrying out a comb operation, and a device for holding said looping finger inoperative on said comb stroke.

Signed at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, this 3rd day of January, 1927.

VICTOR GERO. 

